A sense of empathy is key to creating strong, healthy relationships — with family members, friends, and especially significant others. Whether you're building new bonds or hoping to strengthen your current connections, you can follow these four essential steps to bring more empathy to your relationships: Try to understand where others are coming from. The ability to put yourself in someone Read more

He used to make you feel weak in the knees, and then suddenly he's your . . . best friend? Whether it's an old crush that's resurfaced or a guy you've recently decided would fit better as a friend, a platonic relationship with someone you used to daydream about can be strange and difficult to navigate. Here are the pros and cons of becoming BFFs with a former crush: The pros: You're on his Read more

This week's confession comes from our anonymous Confession Booth group in the TrèsSugar Community. Weigh in with your advice below. I'm tired of my friend calling me to hang out only when her boyfriend is out of town. Ever since she moved in with him, she's been MIA. There's lots of cool stuff going on in our community — join it, check it out, share your posts or advice in the great groups, Read more

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments! My best female friend broke up with me a couple of months ago, to be honest I'm not really even sure what happened, only that she started avoiding me, and then when I asked her about it she just freaked out and said she wanted me out of her life. She said some really horrible things about me Read more

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments! I'm very concerned for the physical safety and mental health of my friend. She started seeing this guy about five months ago. Two months into their relationship, he cheated on her. She accepted this and justified this because she had moved away for school (only an hour away) and he was Read more

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments! I just broke up with my boyfriend of almost one year, around two months ago. Last month, I've gotten closer with one of my guy friends. We would often hang out, share what happened during the day, then he would drive me home from work everyday. He was really a great friend, and he helped me Read more

Like most things, all you need to know to be an amazing gift giver can be found in the words of 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy. "Gift giving is the purest expression of friendship," he tells Liz Lemon. "I'm going to think about what I know and like about you and that will lead me to the perfect gift. And you do the same." The problem is we don't always know the people we're buying gifts for as much as Read more

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments! A lesbian friend of mine met a girl online about 2 weeks ago, and the two of them are both quite taken with each other. I think that maybe something serious could come of it, the only problem for them is distance. My friend wants to plan a trip to head down south to see her new online flame to Read more